Sensitivities of Physical and Chemical Attributes of Soil Quality to Different Tillage Management
Hongxiang Zhao,
Li Wu,
Shuwei Zhu,
Hongchang Sun,
Cailong Xu,
Jindong Fu,
Tangyuan Ning
Affiliations
Hongxiang Zhao
Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Cereal Products (Beijing), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Li Wu
Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Cereal Products (Beijing), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Shuwei Zhu
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Soil and Fertilizer Resources, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
Hongchang Sun
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Soil and Fertilizer Resources, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
Cailong Xu
Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Cereal Products (Beijing), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Jindong Fu
Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Cereal Products (Beijing), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Tangyuan Ning
State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Soil and Fertilizer Resources, College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an 271018, China
Tillage management is a direct factor in affecting soil quality, which is a key factor in sustainable agriculture. However soil quality evaluation needs significant manpower, material resources and time. To explore the sensitive indicators of soil quality affected by tillage management, eight soil physical and chemical properties under three tillage managements, including plow tillage, subsoiling tillage and rotary tillage, were determined under a long-term experiment in North China Plain. The results showed that subsoiling tillage management had the highest soil organic carbon and total nitrogen in the 0–20 cm layer and the lowest soil bulk density in the 30–40 cm layer. Rotary tillage management had the highest soil water content in the 0–40 cm layer. Meanwhile, compared to 2002, the soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and soil bulk density had varied greatly in 2012, but there was no significant difference between 2012 and 2018. However, other property concentrations tended to increase in 2002, 2012 and 2018. In addition, there was a significant linear relationship between soil quality index and grain yield. Subsoiling tillage management had the highest soil quality index and gain yield both in 2012 and 2018. The soil quality can be evaluated through the sensitive indicator of soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, soil bulk density, total phosphorus and soil water content, which provides a scientific basis for selecting reasonable tillage management and evaluating soil quality in this agricultural production area or other similar areas.
